


Unwanted Pumpkins

by angelsfalling16



Series: Halloween Ficlets [7]
Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Fluff, Getting Together, Halloween, M/M, Pumpkins, SnowBaz, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-20 19:43:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21287159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelsfalling16/pseuds/angelsfalling16
Summary: You almost fainted with excitement when you saw my display of tiny pumpkins are you okay AU
Relationships: Penelope Bunce & Simon Snow, Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch/Simon Snow
Series: Halloween Ficlets [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1532390
Comments: 9
Kudos: 120





	Unwanted Pumpkins

**Author's Note:**

> This will probably be the last fic that I post for this series. I want to use three of the other AUs for a different fic, but I’m not going to make it Halloween related, so this is the last one.

**Baz**

“Are you alright? You looked like you were about to faint.”

“You have tiny pumpkins,” the boy says excitedly, his eyes shining brightly.

“I do,” I say slowly, unsure what his point is.

“I thought they all would have been gone by now.”

“These are the ones that were left over after Halloween.”

“That’s so sad.” He says it quietly, a frown marring his beautiful features.

I’m not sure if he was talking to me or not, but I respond anyway.

“Why is that sad?”

“Because they’re unwanted.”

I simply frown at him. I don’t understand him at all.

“You can’t just throw away things that you don’t want.” It sounds like an accusation, but he’s glaring at the pumpkin display and not me. He looks like he’s taken this a little too personally.

“We’re not throwing them away,” I say, attempting to reassure him. “They’re actually 75% off if you want to buy one.”

“I’ll take all of them.” He says it with such forceful determination that it surprises me.

“I’m sorry?” He doesn’t respond to me, though. He’s murmuring to himself, something about a bus and someone not being happy if he brings them home and not having anyway to get them there. I watch him for a minute, curiously, before I speak up again.

“If you want, I could give you a ride.”

I don’t why I offer this. I don’t even know the guy. I’ve seen him in the grocery store, and I’ve noticed how attractive he is with those bronze curls and soft blue eyes, but this is the first time I’ have ever had a conversation with him.

He looks up sharply, a frown still evident on his face. “What?”

“My shift ends in an hour. I can give you a ride if you want.”

“Oh, no. I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

“You won’t be. I don’t mind at all.” Truthfully, I’m intrigued by him. (And his reaction to these tiny pumpkins.)

“Alright. I’ll take all of these.”

“I’ll go get you a cart.” I leave him alone for a moment, and when I come back, he’s cradling one of the pumpkins in his hands, inspecting it from every angle.

“A perfectly good pumpkin,” he murmurs. “I can’t believe no one wanted it.”

“Here you go,” I say, clearing my throat to grab his attention.

He gives me a small smile, and we load the cart together.

“Are you ready to check out?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “No, I still need to buy some groceries. I’ll be ready to go by the time you get off.”

“Great. I’ll wait for you by the door.”

“Thanks.” This time when he smiles, it feels genuine, like simply loading the pumpkins into the cart has lifted his mood.

“I’m Baz by the way,” I say quickly as he starts to turn away.

“Simon.” His smile appears to widen as he offers his hand to me. I reach out to shake it, and his grip is firm, his hand soft in mine.

He pulls back and turns away again, and I watch him walk away for far too long before I realize that I better get back to work before I get fired.

***

“So, what do you plan to do with all of the pumpkins?” I ask Simon as we drive to his apartment, him giving me directions as we go.

He shrugs, turning away from the window to look at me. “Paint them, use them as decorations, whatever else I can find to use them for.”

“That’s nice,” I say, unsure what the right response to that is. I don’t want to upset him again by saying the wrong thing, but I’m wondering what will happen when the pumpkins start to rot.

“Turn here,” he directs, and I see his apartment building up ahead on the right.

We don’t talk as I park or as we gather the bags from the back seat. I follow him quietly up the stairs and watch as he unlocks his door. I’m unsure whether I should follow him inside. He didn’t actually invite me over.

Apparently sensing my hesitation, he turns and nods his head. “Come on in.” He smiles at me again, and I feel my heart warm at the sight of it. He’s seriously adorable. I can’t believe I’ve never talked to him before.

I follow him inside, and I’m surprised by how many pumpkins are already placed throughout the rooms. There are a couple of big ones that have been carved with different faces, but there are numerous tiny ones everywhere. Most of them have been painted with different images on them, and it’s obvious just from glancing at them that Simon is pretty artistic.

“You can just set the bags on the table,” Simon says, and I realize that I’ve stopped moving.

I place the bags next to the others and then stand there awkwardly while Simon he puts away the groceries, unsure of whether I should leave now. When he’s finished, Simon turns to me, and he looks like he’s about to say something when the door to the apartment opens.

Simon shakes his head, deciding against saying whatever it was he was about to, and walks out to meet the girl who steps inside, and I quietly follow after.

“Did you get the groceries?” She asks, shrugging out of her jacket. She looks vaguely familiar. I’ve probably seen her at the grocery store before, but I don’t think I’ve ever talked to her.

“Yes.”

She looks up at Simon, and then her eyes immediately turn to meet mine. She stares at me quietly for a moment before turning back to Simon, looking at him suspiciously.

“Who’s this?” She asks, not unkindly.

“Baz. He gave me a ride home. This is my roommate, Penny,” he says to me.

She looks at me again and says, “You look familiar. Have we met before?”

“He works at the grocery store,” Simon says, answering for me.

“Oh. Why’d he give you a ride home?” She simply sounds curious, but she’s still looking at the two of us suspiciously, and I’m not quite sure what the look means.

“I got a few extra things, and I couldn’t take them on the bus with me.”

Her eyes narrow. “What else did you buy?”

“Umm.” Simon sounds nervous now, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “Tiny pumpkins.”

She sighs. “I told you not to buy anymore.”

“They were on sale, and I couldn’t just leave them there. No one else wanted them.”

He appears to be pleading with her, and I know that if he were looking at me that way, I would immediately give in. (Because I’m weak.) Penny seems immune to it, though, probably having been the recipient of that look many times before. She shakes her head.

“I’m tired of looking at the pumpkins.”

“I’ll take them to my room then,” he says quickly. Then, he turns to me. “Baz, would you mind helping me?”

“Yeah, no problem.” I grab two of the bags of pumpkins, and he grabs the others before leading me down the hall to one of two bedrooms, shutting the door behind us.

A small, black cat darts between under my legs and under Simon’s bed when I stumble, trying not to step on it.

“That’s Pumpkin,” Simon says, dumping his bags onto his bed gracelessly. I set mine down a little more gently.

“You named your cat Pumpkin?” I ask, not as surprised as I should be.

He shrugs. “She showed up before Halloween, and I like pumpkins. I think it’s a nice.”

“It is,” I tell him. “It’s a cute name.”

“She showed up outside in the cold. Someone had abandoned her, and she was just as unwanted as these pumpkins.”

“Oh.” I’m not sure what else to say. He seems to be very passionate about things that have been abandoned. It makes me think that there’s more to it, but it’s not my place to pry. I barely know him.

He doesn’t say anything else and starts taking the pumpkins out one by one, and I take a moment to look around his room.

It’s messy but in a messily organized kind of way. There’s a table in one corner that appears to be where he does the painting of the pumpkins because it’s covered in paint splattered newspaper and various sized paintbrushes.

There’s another table under the window, more of a desk, but it looks clean, almost as if he doesn’t use it too often. I wonder if he’s in school or if he has a job somewhere. The rest of the room is pretty ordinary, a few pictures hanging on the wall, more drawings than photos, and his bed where we dumped the pumpkins is neatly made.

I watch him for a few minutes as he inspects all of the pumpkins, carrying some of them over to the art table and placing the others aside. I’m not sure how he’s choosing where to put them, but it’s interesting to watch him.

When he’s finished, he turns to me wearing a bashful smile.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to ignore you.”

“It’s fine.”

He takes a step closer to me and then another, stopping when he has to tilt his head up to keep eye contact with me. I want him to move closer so that I can see the freckles that spatter his face more clearly.

I’m trying to think of something to say to him that doesn’t sound lame, but I’m at a loss for words as my eyes flick down to his mouth. I wonder what it would be like to kiss him. Would his lips be warm or cold? Soft or rough?

I clear those thoughts away. It’s absurd to want to kiss someone who I just met. There’s something about him that makes me want to get to know him better, to befriend him and possibly take it further.

I still haven’t managed to think of something to say when Simon speaks again.

“I know that we just met, but would it be alright if I kissed you?” Simon asks, practically voicing my thoughts. I’m surprised by his forwardness, but I don’t mind it.

I don’t even need to think about it. “Yes.”

He closes the distance between us quickly, pressing his lips firmly to mine. I reach up to slide my fingers through his hair, and it’s softer than it looks, his curls flopping silkily around my hand.

He tilts his head and does this thing with his chin, and it feels perfect. I’ve only kissed one person before, and that felt forced and wrong. It made me think that maybe I didn’t like kissing, but this kiss is different. This kiss is warm and welcoming. It feels like the beginning of something, and I never want it to end.

Of course, it does end after a few more moments. Simon smiles at me, and I return it warmly.

“Thank you for the ride,” is what he says when he steps back, and I nearly laugh at the strangeness of it.

“No problem.” I’m grinning now. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop.

“Thanks for the kiss, too.”

And now I’m blushing. Simon manages to affect me so easily, but I don’t mind it. “Anytime,” I tell him.

He’s grinning, too, and I think it must be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.

“I have to get going,” I say regretfully, “but I don’t have work on Saturday if you want to hang out.”

He nods. “That’d be nice.” Then he surprises me by leaning forward and kissing me again, chastely, and I’m embarrassed to find myself leaning after him.

“See you later, Simon.”

“Bye.”

I run into Penny on the way out, stupid grin still in place, and no matter hard I try, I can’t stop smiling, even as she says, “If you hurt him, I’ll make you regret it,” in a tone that is much more serious than I would have expected from her.

“I won’t hurt him,” I promise her.

She stares at me for a moment longer before nodding and stepping aside to let me pass by her. I smile all the way home, and I realize too late that I forgot to get Simon’s number. Well, at least I know where he lives. I’ll just have to drop by and surprise him on Saturday. Maybe I’ll bring him flowers or chocolate. Or maybe a tiny pumpkin.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading this fics. I really hope you liked them! :)


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